Abhijit Kamath wants to help change how consumers experience Indian food in the United States. “It’s food that brings back memories,” says Kamath, “food that invokes memories.
“Rana and Akash laid the foundation for me, and they did a bang-up job.”
That’s Rana and Akash Kapoor, founders of Curry Up Now and until last fall leading culinary development for the 20-unit brand. Kamath, Curry Up Now’s director of culinary and flavor since September 2021, and Akash Kapoor first connected on LinkedIn, Kamath still living in New York and unaware of the fast-casual Indian street food concept.
“Then I did my research,” says Kamath. “It was like I was living under a rock.” He met with the Kapoors, visited restaurants in California and of course tried the food—the samosas, pastries stuffed with curried potatoes and chutneys, are still his favorite—“and I said, I have to take this.”
Abhijit Kamath joins Curry Up Now as director of culinary and flavor.
“Their vision for food clearly aligns with mine,” continues Kamath, who since joining the company has drawn on his experience cooking in Michelin-starred restaurants and developing meals for foodservice giant Compass Group. “Curry Up Now is an all-around food experience, not just a restaurant.”
From a family of restaurateurs in his hometown of Mumbai, India, Kamath worked there in eateries such as The Sassy Spoon before moving to New York City, where he cooked at fine-dining restaurants Restaurant Daniel by Chef Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern. Kamath earned his culinary science degree from the Culinary Institute of America and also has a hospitality and hotel management degree from the Institute of Hotel Management. He’d been working in product development for the Restaurant Associates group of Compass for nearly five years before making the switch to Curry Up Now.
In his culinary director role, Kamath is creating new dishes such as the kabob sizzler in addition to enhancing protocols, recipes and training throughout the system with an emphasis on consistency. Curry Up Now produces the majority of its food in two central kitchens, with products shipped to each restaurant where kitchen workers handle the final prep.
“One thing that Michelin-star restaurants really instilled in me is that sense of urgency—to get it right every time,” he says. “It has to be right no matter who is doing it.”
One recent project aimed streamlining the cooking process was a switch to Rational combi ovens capable of replicating a traditional tandoor oven. Curry Up Now, explains Kamath, was using a two-step cooking process for its chicken and the change cuts that to one step, resulting in chicken that’s “juicy, it’s charred. It’s just how a tandoor would function.”
Kamath also introduced proprietary spice blends such as tandoori, kadhai and tamarind chutney, which are supplied to the restaurants, and is heading up efforts to expand Curry Up Now via ghost kitchens such as Local Foods, All Day Kitchens and Kitchen United.
Kapoor, he notes, is still heavily involved in the culinary side of the brand and approves everything Kamath creates. “He has a wonderful palate; he knows what he’s talking about,” Kamath says. “We argue, we fight. It’s like a father-son relationship.”
Curry Up Now has corporate and franchise units in development across California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Colorado, Utah, Georgia, Texas and Indiana.
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